b : being or relating to an electrical circuit having a number of conductors in parallel

c : arranged in parallel <a parallel processor> d : relating to or being a connection in a computersystem in which the bits of a byte are transmitted over separate channels at the same time <a parallel port> — compare serial

3 a (1) : similar, analogous, or interdependent in tendency or development (2) : exhibiting parallelism in form, function, or development <parallel evolution>

b : readily compared : companion

c : having identical syntactical elements in corresponding positions; also : being such an element

d (1) : having the same tonic —used of major and minor keys and scales (2) : keeping the same distance apart in musical pitch